Shaft mounting and driving assembly



June 2, 1953 w, sPANG 2,640,334

SHAFT MOUNTING AND DRIVING ASSEMBLY Filed May 7, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet l Ju ne 2, 1953 w. F. SPANG 2,640,334

' SHAFT MOUNTING AND DRIVING ASSEMBLY Filed May 7, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 2, 1953 ourrso Parent 1 William F. Sbang, Gambridge; Mass; assignor to Giibe' Steak Machine 00., NeedfiaiirHeights;-

Mass;, a partnership 3 Glaims. 1'

This" invention relates to a shaft mounting and driving assembly and more particularly to meat tendering machines employing one or more 037- lindrieal gang" cutters each including. a shaft having a plurality of cutting disks'mount'ed in spaced relation thereon and therealong. These gang cutter areremovable from themachineand each is driven by a driving shaft having a socket in one end for engaging and upporting one" end' of the cutter shaft and provided with a pairer diametrically opposed lugs coopemting with a pair of pins on the cutter" shaft for" driving the latter. The driving lugs heretofore employed have been rounded to guide the pins" into place when inserting the cutter into the machine; as shown in my Patent No: 2,605,497", dated August 1952, and' this construction has resulted in crowding the cutter axially away" from the driving" shaft and thereby causing excessive wear on the cutter bearings. The primary object of my. invention he'ie'iii resides in the production of driving lugs having put contacting faces disposed to engage the pins in a manner eliminating this objection.

The pin contacting face ofeach driving; lug is constructed to engage its pin beyond the side thereof facing the driving shaft and thereby rotatahly drive the cutter without crowding it axially away. from the driving. shaft. Also -the pin contacting face ofeach driving lug together with the driving shaft preferably forms a pocket for the pin and thecontour o'f-- each such face is preferably such as to provide-'a'driving connection in which the driving action of the lugs o'n' the pins crowds the pins toward and into the pockets, thus holding the cutter secure axially and eliminating the objectionable crowding and wear heretofore present. The provision of an improved driving construction of this nature which eliminates the objections heretofore present comprises a further obj ect of the invention.

These and other features of my invention will be more readily understood and appreciated from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a meat tendering machine embodying my invention and illustrating the placing of the cutter unit in the machine,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front elevation of the machine, partially broken away,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a cutter driving shaft,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional plan view of a cutter in operating position in the machine,

Fig; 5* is. a fragmentary sectional elevation thereon Fig. 6 is a: perspective view'off a modified form of cutter'driving shaft, and

Fig. '7 a fragmentary viewer the" driven end ofthecutt'er shaft.

The machine shown the'drawing'sconipr'ises a body" r0 adaptedtoreceive a cover r2. The'top portion of the body is recessed to receive a meat cutting unit l4 including. a basket carrying two cooperatin gang cutters; The basket comprises twoe'nd lates It adaptedte supportthe' cutters and rigidlyconne ted by a liftin handle-embodymg two spaced elements"v 18 disposed above and e tendinglengitudinally of th'ecutters. The" sole function of tneb'asket is toiserve as a carrier for lifting the cuttersfrorn' the'body' l of.

Each eutterco'mprises a shaft 26 having disklike knives 2'2: and 24 in s aced relation therealohg'. One en'd of each cutter'is provided with a roller bushing 26' and two" diametricallyopposed driving pins 28 are carried by the other" end inward'ly" of areduced" end portion" 30. Each cutter is driven by a driving" shaft 32 mounted in a gear beam the body Wand driven hyfgearing 3fii. The inner end". of eachidrivihg shaft is provi'ded' with a socket 3t rbrreceiving the'r'educed' end portion 30 crime cutter and two diametrically opposed lugs 38 integral with the" drivin shaft extend axially outwardly beyond the: socket" position to engage'the'pins 3'0'.- I

The cutters are lace the machine in the manner illustrated in Fig; 1 Aguidebarld on the inner basket plate It isplac'ed in contact with a depressed abutment 42 on the gear box and as the ha'ske't 1'slowered to horizontal" posi tion the end portions 30' engage Within the sockets 36 and the bushings 2S engage within and are supported by the upwardly open bearings 44. In such position the cutters ar supported entirely :by the driving shafts 32 and the bearings 44. The cutters are removable upwardly from the bearings 44 and outwardly from the sockets in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1.

The invention herein is primarily concerned with the driving lugs 38. Each pair of lugs is integral with its driving shaft and extend axially outward from the socket end thereof beyond the end face and respectively at opposite sides of the socket. It will be noted that the rear faces 48 of the lugs are inclined relative to said end face and this inclination causes engagement of the pins 28 therewith automatically to rotate the cutter to a position permitting insertion of the portion 30 into the socket 36. The front faces 48 of the lugs are disposed to engage about and 3 provide an interlocking and driving engagement with the pins 28 and the pin receiving pockets formed by the faces 48 are disposed to conform to the pins when the portion 30 i fully seated in the socket 36, as illustrated in Fig. 2.

It will be apparent that the driving engagement of the lugs 38 with the pins 28 holds the cutter secure axially and causes no axial crowding of the cutter. The primary object of the invention is to provide a driving relation that will eliminate such crowding heretofore present as above described and itwill' be apparent that the driving faces of the lugs can be considerably modified and still perform this function.

In Figs. 4-7 I have illustrated a somewhat modified construction in which the lugs 50 have straight driving faces 52 whicharepreferably somewhat inclined to the axis of the driving shaft to form an acute angle of less than 90 with the end face 54 of the shaft, although it will. be

apparent that a straight face '52 right angular to the face 54 will engage the driving pin beyond the side facing the driving shaft and perform the driving function without causin axial crowding of the cutter. The faces 52 and 54 provide a pocket at their junction for receiving the driving pin as illustrated in Fig. 4. The rear faces 55 of these lugs are inclined in like manner as the rear faces 46 of the lugs 38.

The end face 54 of the driving shaft 32 between the lugs 50 (Fig. 6) or 38 (Fig. 3) is in a common plane disposed radially of the cutter shaft. It will be apparent that such construction permits free and unobstructed insertion of the unit Hi to the position illustrated in Figs. 2, 4 and 5. If, upon insertion of the unit, the pins 28 engage the driving lugs the engagement will be with the inclined rear faces 46 or 56 and thereby automatically rotate the cutter shaft as the pins slide down the inclines to the end face 54.

It will now be apparent that, whereas in the former construction the rounded driving lugs engage the driving pins on the sides facing the driving shaft and thereby crowd the cutters axially away from the driving shaft, in the improved construction herein disclosed the driving lugs engage the pins beyond the sides thereof facing the drivin shaft and thereby rotatably drive the cutter without crowding it axially away from the driving shaft, thereby eliminating the wear and objections heretofore present. Furthermore, in the preferred form of the invention the lugs are constructed to provide. pin receiving pockets serving to hold the cutter secure in a definite predetermined position axially.

Having thus disclosed my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination, a frame embodying two spaced supports, a driving shaft rotatably mounted in one support with one end facing the other support and terminating in a face disposed in a plane right angular to theshaft axis, the shaft having an axially disposed socket in said one end open to said face, two lugs projecting outwardly from said face at opposite sides of said axis, an upwardly open bearing in said other support, a driven shaft rotatably supported at one end in said bearing and at its other end in said socket, two diametrically opposed pins extending radially outward from opposite sides of the driven shaft adjacent to said face, said lugs having front driving faces each forming an angle of not more than 90 with said face forwardly of the lug and providing therewith pockets for receiving the pins and engaging said driving faces therewithbeyond the sides thereof facing the driving shaft whereby to rotatably drive the driven shaft without crowding it axially away from the driving shaft, the driven shaft being removable upwardly from said open bearing and outwardly from said socket.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 in which said lugs have rear faces inclined forwardly from said plane toward said front driving faces at the free ends of the lugs whereby pressure engagement of said pins against said rear faces in the direction of said plane will cause relative rotation of the two shafts as the pins ride down the inclined rear faces of the lugs.

3. The combination defined in claim 1 in which the drivin face of each lug is a plane surface and said angle is less than 90.

1 WILLIAM F. SPANG.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 709,762 Greaves Sept. 23, 1902 931,327 Manzel Aug. 17, 1909 1,171,380 Arthur Feb. 8, 1916 2,409,463 Ahrndt Oct. 15, 1946 2,460,216 Dalton Jan. 25, 1949 2,513,025 Jackson June 27, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 373,079 Germany Apr. 7, 1923 

